At what point do we stop revising?

We all want our books to be perfect. We want every word, every sentence, every paragraph to crafted with utmost originality, the words to be spelled correctly, our grammar flawless. The novel, short story, or poem has to have some form of emotional effect on our readers, or we never feel like we've done our job.

I self-published my first completed novel last year in the Spring. At the time, I was satisfied with the end result. Since then I've pulled the book from the sales sites and began a process of rewriting. I'm quite pleased with the way the novel is going, but I began to wonder...How much is too much? At what point do we stop revising?

I know I'm not the only one who does this; I've seen countless threads on various writing sites where others advise to set the book away for a few weeks and let it marinate. But...I can't seem to make myself do that. I tend to revise each chapter after it's finished, then go back through several times. After that I give it to a few people for critiques, then back to revising again. But, even though I thought I'd done plenty of revising, I'm back to rewriting the whole damn thing.

How many times do you revise and rewrite each of your pieces of work? Do you tend to over write? Do you obsess over your novels or other pieces when you've finally put it away?

Love me, touch me, kiss me....

I've been on a major romance kick the past week and a half. Maybe it's because Valentine's Day is just around the corner. Or maybe it's because I'll be celebrating my wedding anniversary to my soul mate this month. Regardless of the reason, it has given me a lot of romantic inspiration for my writing. Which, of course, got me thinking about my romance song list.

So, for your listening - and viewing - enjoyment, and in no specific order, here are some of the most romantic songs for which to write to, make love to, or just snuggle to. Enjoy!

Kissing You by Des'Ree. I first heard this song while watching Romeo + Juliet. The the music alone makes me crave hands moving through my hair, fingers brushing down my cheek.

My Love by Sia. Any Twihard knows this song. This is played during the infamous, extremely romantic and sensual make-out scene in Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Can't you picture Edward's hands moving so gently over Bella's face?

Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton. Ahhhh. I can picture every single action as the song plays out. You can feel the way Eric loves his woman in this song.

Can't Take My Eyes Off You  by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. A little indulgent and cute, sure, but I so badly want this song sung to me!

Make A Memory by Bon Jovi. This band can sing just about anything and it makes me think of snuggling...or more!

I'll Be There For You by Bon Jovi. You can't think of romantic and Bon Jovi without this one. *sigh*

I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing by Aerosmith. The lyrics, the movie, the moments. What woman doesn't want to think their man loves every single thing about them?

What songs bring love to mind? What really makes you crave your significant other's touch, their lips?

You asked, I answered. This is how I write...

Dozens of people have asked me over the past year how to write a book. Normally, I say...just write. That doesn't always go over well, but I don't always know how to tell someone who's never written a short story how to write a novel. While trying to go to sleep last night, an analogy I heard once on one of the writing boards I stalk started playing through my head. I just added a little to it....

When starting a book, you have to think of Adam and Eve.

Want a bite?

 Yep, that's what I said-Adam and Eve. Everything has to start with the bones. Not everyone does this part the same, but all stories end up the same way - the skeletal form of a novel. Some choose to outline. Some choose to wing it. I'm a little of both. Sometimes I have a fabulous idea, but have to sit down and type out a few things to see if I can make it work. Other times, I outline nothing more than the character or world building. When I write a story I want to know where the characters went to school, their favorite colors, their fave food and drink, why they act the way they do, even if they've ever had an ingrown toe nail. Now, of course a majority of this never makes it into the book, but it helps me get to know the characters better.

Other times, I know what I want to happen, but I'm not sure which order, so I outline the approximate events. A lot of times this will tell me if I even want to include certain events, or eliminate them completely.

The next part is adding the meat. Obviously, we can't walk around as nothing but skeletons. It would cause mass panic, and people would try to hunt us thinking we were zombies.

Gr. I'm a zombie..

This is where after planning what I want to happen, or maybe even after doing the mad dash to get the story out of my head, I'll go back and add details. Maybe I need to add more description of the room which will play a huge part in a scene. Maybe I need to add more description to a fight scene to make it more intense. Or maybe I need to do a little more research about a certain species of creature, or illness someone is inflicted with. The story is now resembling a real novel.

Now, at times, we women (and some men) want perfection. Therefore, we have to go through the book and remove the moles, warts, blemishes, and all imperfections. Beauty marks may look good on a woman, but they don't in a novel. Well, at least not a lot of beauty marks. You don't want to send a novel into the universe covered in zits!

I'm sexy and I know it...

What I mean by imperfections is all those repeat words, the excessive 'that's, and all of those annoying adverbs! Kill them! Kill them all!!!! Okay, not all. But adverbs should be like any seasoning...used in moderation.

There. Hopefully this short description helped someone. How do you write? Do you have some advice for those who are finally sitting down to write the book they've always dreamed of?